Choices (Adventure, AU)

Okay, here’s the thread at last! An update on the rules I was a little more vague about before:

1. I’ve decided to put the time limit on posting after every GM post at one week. If you can’t meet it, PM or Skype me and we’ll see if we can work something out or give you a little bit of extra time.2. No auto-hitting, auto-killing, auto-dodging, etc etc etc you know the drill. Tell me what you intend to do, and depending on the circumstances you’ll either be successful or not. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you by sheer coincidence. Probably.3. Have fun!

Aaaaaaaaaand… here we go.

Choices

Three months ago, three months before the wedding, the Canterlot Institute of Magic and Technology had announced their newest invention, courtesy of one of their rising scholarly stars: the Anti-Magic Barrier. Powered by a single rack of crystal batteries, the Anti-Magic Barrier generator could create an invisible dome big enough to cover an entire city, or small enough to cover a chair, and immediately neutralise any magic passing the boundary. The Archduke Blueblood had been so impressed that he awarded its inventor with a minor title of nobility, and immediately ordered its manufacture on a massive scale. Soon every other major noble house was doing it too. In just a few weeks every district of every city in Equestria was covered with the things, and more were just to come.

It was a sad truth of this world, Princess Celestia mused, that division and fear was the answer to everything. From her vantage point on the dais where she was supposed to wed the two nobles, she could see no less than three of the things scattered around the stage. And there was at least one more hidden under the table behind her.

The stage was a makeshift thing, or at least as makeshift as it got when it came to nobles. The younger Blueblood had decided that he wanted his wedding to be a grand thing, for everypony to gawk at equally - equality, what a thought! - and he wanted the ceremony to be held out in the public forum. Naturally, this one demand on a whim sent scores of ponies out for tireless weeks, setting up the foundations, infrastructure, and security, acquiring all the materials needed, and literally smashing down surrounding houses just to make a stage big enough to satisfy his ego. She hadn’t even caught wind of it until he started knocking buildings down. But what could she have done anyway? She didn’t have enough power to tell him to stop. All she could do was watch as he shoved her little ponies around.

She emerged from her thoughts briefly to check her surroundings. The stage itself was raised a full storey above the ground and exposed to the sun - no doubt so Blueblood's paraphernalia could glitter in the light - with similarly high shaded spectator platforms for the nobles planted a street’s width away, squarely on where she imagined a family had once lived. The common ponies would just have to watch from the ground. And there was a lot of that, after the clearing. Some of the special common ponies, the musicians and the security and such, got special little tents at ground level or were stationed in some of the surrounding un-destroyed houses. The only ones on the stage would be her and the little lovebirds.

She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

The stage was fifty paces across, closed rooms for Blueblood and Pinkamena at either end. They’d come out and meet in the middle. The whole ‘walking the carpet’ part had to be reworked since it would compromise Pinkamena’s security. That, and nopony had bothered to build stairs. Blueblood was going to call in an airship to get them off this platform. That stallion had no concept of limits.

She sighed and allowed herself to slip back into her brooding. She had things to do after this. Important things. She may as well sort out some of it now. She could recite the wedding words by heart, so she didn’t really need to concentrate on that. Just… watch.

Despite the number of exquisite dresses and designer tuxedos, there was a couple who stood out. The mare had a curious pair of pointed ears, even more so than that which was normal for a pegasus, and wore a deep scarlet dress in the Victorian style. A pair of black gloves ran to her to her mid bicep, and a simple golden Masquerade mask adorned her face, through which a pair of startling grey eyes looked at her companion with distaste.

For his part, her companion wore a simple black tuxedo, and he caught her look, snorting quietly. "Look, I'm just thinking that he's left himself open to a dozen different assassination attempts. I mean, we're so open here," he whispered, before chuckling. "And if I'm under-dressed then you are definitely overdressed." The mare shifted and he shook his head. "I'm not saying you don't look stunning... You look a sight better than anyone else here. But... you may have overdone it is all."

The mare let out a small sigh, and her companion snorted in response. "She does, doesn't she... Blueblood is risking quite a lot. I'll keep an eye on things, don't worry."

Dusk Hammer did not think his luck could get any worse. He owed a favor to a noble lord in Trottingham, and he then owed a favor to Archduke Blueblood. So, when Blueblood wanted good ponies for security, this noble used Dusk's favor to satisfy Blueblood's. Though Dusk didn't know Blueblood personally, he could tell from the impractical extravagance of everything this wedding oozed that he would sooner give Blueblood a black eye than willingly help him. He had no issues with the noble that got him into this though, he was a family friend after all.

So, here he was with a stoic face and gaudy armor that would be more useful at sitting on a rack than blocking a blade making sure nopony caused trouble. The only items that were of use were his sword and a crossbow. The sword, he demanded; the metal crossbow, like the gaudy and shoddy armor, was mandatory as no spell would get past the barriers around the stage. As much as he disliked Blueblood at first glance, he had a job to do. He had a perfect view of the stage from one of the spectator boxes. He supposed being a unicorn gave him a little extra privilege over the "inferior" races. Just that word alone threatened to turn his stony gaze into a scowl of disgust.

The rather overly dressed pegasus mare with the unique ears drew his gaze for a couple moments, but he soon was back to gazing at nothing. Hardly a threat, but the same went for pretty much everypony else at this moment.

Above the packed crowds, a thestral mare maintained a hovering kind of flight while drawing the bow across her violin with the kind of practiced ease that could only come from years of dedicated playing. Her eyes were closed as she played, and she herself wore a shapely cut shimmering black dress that would occasionally sway a little as her flight shifted her position ever so slightly or an errant breeze caught the bit of loose fabric near the bottom of the dress. Near to her on the ground was a small collection of additional musicians who would be playing along with her from their lower position, there just happened however to not be enough immediate space for her to join them and being the only one with wings, Sonata was left to fly in place while playing at the... extravagant procession.

Sure the blatant disrespect was annoying, as were the points and whispers, but the notion of her being something of a exotic spectacle as a professional thestral violinist that had managed to land her this job was just something Sonata was going to bite her lip and bear. The pay was far too good and the fact that it was a great way to get her name out more among the noble crowd for future jobs was far too grand an opportunity to pass up. That however was at least the hope, so she could potentially put a stop or at least slow down on the whole side profession. Sonata's eyes cracked open just a hair's breath to glance towards the violin case resting safely off to the side on the roof of the tent. While it looked completely mundane, Sonata was all too aware of the hidden components and mechanisms in it that could so quickly turn the instrument case into a series of weapons to be used in any number of different situations. Sure there wasn't any plan to actually use any of that stuff, but it was her only instrument case and so it kind of had to follow her everywhere.

Sonata then let out a sigh as she let the practice piece slow and eventually fade out on a single lower note. Tucking the bow under a forearm/foreleg, Sonata began to subtly adjust a couple of the strings to make sure her instrument was at tuned perfection, and also matching her fellow musicians who were conducting their own warm-up exercises in the tent.

Approaching the crowd of common ponies was a unicorn mare who would otherwise be unremarkable if not for the four ornate sword-like objects sheathed across her sides. Her chain vest chinked gently as she made her way forward. “You ever wonder if Celestia is a morning person, Sacred?” She asked a brown pegasus mare who walked beside her. The two seemed to be around the same age, that is, in their mid-to-late twenties.

The unicorn yawned, and her horn began to glow. The same purple aura then enveloped a few rebellious strands of long, blue mane that had fallen over her right eye and brushed them back into place before she continued to speak. “You’d think so, right? With the sun on her rump and stuff… but you never know. Mornings are kind of lame.” She finished, glancing inquisitively over her shoulder at the pegasus, at Sacred.

The brown pegasus mare walking beside the white unicorn blinked at her, staring at her in confusion. She thought about it for a moment, thinking it was a bit obvious. But she kept on listening to what her friend was talking about. As she continued, she had to admit she did make a bit of sense. It wasn't like Celestia had to be a morning person because she was the princess of the sun. Maybe Luna was a morning person for all they knew.

She gave the white unicorn an amused look, silently wondering what brought up this topic but she didn't do anything to find out why. She shrugged a bit, spreading one of her wings and lifting her left forehoof up. On the forehoof was an odd device in a durable metal casing that gleamed in the sun. Even an uneducated pony could tell it was magical as evidence by the small runes etched on it. She glided a feather across the topside in a seemingly erratic manner causing whatever magic within to glow. Then a mare's voice chimed out, "Perhaps. I'd like to think she is one. Besides, morning means new day, new day means more to learn.” She smiled to her companion for a moment, her ears perking up at the music in the air. She slid her feather across her strange device again. “Nice music.” She looked up into the air, spying a thestral plating a violin.

The relative peace and tranquility went on for a while longer, as Celestia waited passively on the elevated stage and more ponies gathered to watch the ceremony. After a while, an armoured pegasus guard descended onto the stage, her altitude dropping briefly as she passed through the barrier. She landed next to Celestia and whispered something into the Princess' ear. Then she flew off, and Celestia announced, "Attention, my little ponies. The ceremony will now commence."

There were a few muffled orders in the guard post below the stage. Then four cloaked unicorn mages, wearing the sigil of Celestia's sun on their sides, stepped out into the open, marched over to the four tips of the shadow under the stage, and cast their horns towards the sky. Magic burst forth from their horns, swirling in bands of rainbow hue and coalescing eventually into a bright yellow shield around the entire platform. Down on ground level, platoons of guards hurried out and stood guard around each of the casting unicorns.

"We are gathered here today," Celestia began, her voice magically amplified over the entire crowd, "to witness the union of two souls in divine matrimony." The doors on either side of the stage opened and out stepped two very different ponies. On Celestia's right was a blond, white unicorn stallion, impeccably dressed in a smart suit and bowtie. His arrogant eyes first roamed the crowd, then settled on Celestia with a cocky smirk. On her left was a pink earth pony mare, her straight mane well-combed and fastened with a gleaming gem-encrusted hairclip. She wore a long, flowing dress, trailing all the way to her hooves and then some. Her step was tired, her posture weary, but in her ice-blue eyes shimmered something else.

"Their decision to marry has not been entered into lightly," Celestia continued. The pair on stage strode towards each other and met in the middle. "Today, they will publicly declare their private devotion to each other. The essence of this commitment is the acceptance of each other in entirety, as lover, companion, and friend." She turned to the unicorn. "Do you, Duke Blueblood, take this mare as your lawfully wedded wife, and pledge your love to an eternal harmony?"

"I do," he said, his voice amplified by the same spell as Celestia's and ringing out to the ends of the assembly. He smirk never wavered.

Celestia turned to the earth pony. "Do you, Duchess Pie, take this stallion as your lawfully wedded husband, and pledge your love to an eternal harmony?"

Silence. And then, slowly, she began to laugh a mirthless laugh. "What, is this a choice now?"

Celestia furrowed her eyebrows. So did Blueblood. Pinkie chuckled and stretched out her delicately shoe-shod hoof from under her dress towards Blueblood. Accentria and Sacred would, at this point, hear a gasp from behind them, and if they turned they would catch only the tip of a grey tail fleeing between the crowd. On stage, however, Pinkie gave Blueblood a genuine smile, motioning for him to take her hoof. He did so, uncertainly.

Suddenly, a blade lanced out from her shoe, piercing its way through Blueblood's hoof and into his neck. He fell to the ground, gurgling as he bled, and Pinkie leapt back onto him, stabbing him again and again. For a moment, Celestia could only watch in horror. Then somepony shouted, from one of the guard towers, "Take that shield down!" and the shield bubble disappeared. Celestia launched up into the air, away from them. Pegasus soldiers at all places in the assembly were rising to the air and speeding towards the platform.

Ugh, another loveless marriage. Why do nobles do this, Dusk thought when Duchess Pie came into view. When she first rejected it, he was silently praising her. That was... until she murdered Blueblood. The praise was gone. He now had a job to do. As the magic barrier was still in place, Dusk readied his crossbow and fired a bolt at Duchess Pie, trying to hit her right in the rear haunch. He wished he could make the jump to the stage, but the armor was weighing him down and the time to remove it might make it too late.

The unicorn maintained her inquisitive stare for a few seconds longer, before shaking her head and laughing softly. “You’re such a nerd.” she teased, returning her attention ahead of herself. When the thestral’s music was mentioned, the unicorn nodded in agreement. As the duo waited for the ceremony to commence, the unicorn took to making smalltalk with her companion, enjoying the relative peace and tranquility supplemented by the background orchestral ensemble.

The ceremony, and, in particular, what followed left the unicorn slightly speechless. So suddenly did the situation escalate that she had almost missed the gasp emanating from behind her. She turned around out of instinct, barely catching the tip of a gray tail making its way through the crowd. For reasons that not even she could explain, the unicorn felt as though she needed to chase after the stranger.

“This way!” She ordered her pegasus companion, giving chase to the owner of the gray tail.

Sonata hadn't looked up from her instrument from the moment the ceremony started, keeping pace with the rest of the ensemble to provide the pleasant background music that wasn't too loud as to disrupt the ceremony, but not too quiet to where it was completely forgotten. She kept focus through the laughs, the unease, but the shout was enough to break her concentration and with a start she looked to see murder being committed by a pony who seemed to be enjoying it far too much. For a little while, Sonata just watched in a bit of shocked surprise as she never really pictured a noble even being capable of such a level of brutality, and yet here was the act right before her and disproving her disbelief. As the other musicians stopped however and began making a ruckus below her, Sonata snapped out of the stunned state and quickly flew over to her violin case.

She assumed panic would come quickly, and absolutely didn't want to put her instrument in any form of risk. With practiced ease, Sonata carefully put the instrument away before scooping up her special case and then realizing she wasn't sure what to do next. As she tried to figure this out, Sonata continued to simply hover at the current height, clutching her instrument case to her chest and waiting for the next scene to play out.

Sacred stared back at Accentria as she stared at her. Then when she was called a nerd she shook her head at her rapidly, huffing at her. She pulled her scarf up a bit more, looking away from her unicorn friend who teased her. She stayed grumpy for a bit longer before starting to contribute to the small talk the white unicorn was trying to make her.

As the ceremony began, she turned her full attention to the stage. Though upon the bride's odd behavior, she had to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Her ears perked up at the gasp behind her and she turned around with her unicorn friend to see what it was. She quickly shrugged it off and turned back to the stage, just in time to see Blueblood being murdered by Pinkamina.

She stood there in shock for a few moments before she was snapped out of her thoughts by Accentria shouting for her to follow. Looking to her friend, then back to the stage, then back to her friend again, she took flight over the crowd to follow her. She couldn't really protest against her seeing as she can't talk and it takes time to use her magical device. And time seemed to be something they were rushing though just a bit.

Shadow watched as the pink mare approached the stage and his eyes narrowed, before he glanced around the area, before his eyes drifted back to the main event. "If someone wanted to attack now, it would be the perfe-" he froze, before licking his lips quietly and shaking his head. "I anticipated this, but I did not think it would actually..." he stopped his mumbling, and the Shadow and Anja illusions on the platforms vanished, before Shadow dropped from the sky, their actual location having been above the stage itself.

He landed lightly, and Anja landed next him, spinning a parasol idly as they stared down the crazed mare. "What a unique assassination attempt," Shadow shouted as he pulled a compact crossbow from his back and fired, the bolt lancing out across the distance aimed at Pinkie's head. He didn't stop there though, firing another three bolts at the pink mare, before drawing a pair of wickedly curved daggers. "However, our contract stipulates the protection of both members of this marriage, and in the case we are unable to prevent it, we are to do all in our powers to eliminate the assassin. In this case, Duchess Pie, that is you."

He lunged forward, daggers aimed to slice open her arteries, whilst Anja started to move past the pair, in an attempt to sneak the likely dead prince's body away.

Pinkie's ears perked up at the sound of the approaching mob, and she backed away quickly from the corpse. Dusk's arrow flew just past her cutie mark, eliciting a muttered curse the amplification spell didn't pick up on. Then Shadow and Anja landed on the stage next to her. She flashed them a crooked smile and reached into her dress. "Yeah, nopony else is as dumb as me." The first two arrows grazed her ear just as she drew out a little black sphere. She winced, and the sphere fell out of her hoof, shattering on the ground in a huge cloud of black smoke. The other arrows flew into the cloud, their accuracy uncertain. When Shadow lunged into it his blades would meet thin air.

In the meantime, Accentria's and Sacred's chase of the owner of the mysterious grey tail would carry them away from the main body of the crowd and into the relatively deserted commercial district of Canterlot a block away. The owner of the tail, as was clear to the airborne Sacred, was a magenta-violet earth pony mare, galloping at an impressive pace for the fact that she was clad in a simple kimono-esque dress. The chase would end shortly at one of the shophouses in the district, which the mare quickly ran into and shut the door. If they approached the door, though, they would find it unlocked, and the mare sitting at the end of a room filled with mechanical devices and boxes, her eyes twitching as she stared into blank space.

"I didn't know..." She whispered as if in a trance. "I didn't know she wanted it for that... If I had..."

Dusk didn't notice either Sacred or Accentria when they took off. He did notice that the overly dressed mare and her companion weren't actually among the crowd and were currently confronting Miss Pie. He was not satisfied with standing idly. He removed his armor as quickly as he could and dropped his crossbow and bolts.

He quickly judged that jumping across would be foolish, not to mention he could crush some poor pony if he didn't make it. So, with his sword ready, he dropped off the stand, made his way over to the stage and stuck his sword as high up as he could into the supports. He then used that to climb up onto the stage. It wasn't quick, but he'd get up. Though he'd need to give his sword some tender love and care once the crisis was over.

Once up there, he pulled his sword free with his telekinesis and took time to assess the situation again.

Now that she had her violin safely inside its' case, Sonata looked about to see where the action was and what she could do about it. The only thing she managed to catch were a couple of tails fleeing from the area and since she wanted nothing to do with the chaos that was the stage, Sonata turned about and followed Accentria and Sacred, flying low to the ground as to make herself less noticeable to the crowd. She however didn't go into the shop-house, and instead plastered herself against the wall to listen in on the possible conversation, her eyes twitching and narrowing some in curiosity and concern as she struggled to hear the trance-like mumbling.

Shadow clicked his tongue in annoyance, before looking at Anja. "Any chance?" He asked as he walked over slowly. She shook her head and he sighed, kneeling down and closing the dead stallion's eyes. "Rest in peace, you rich bastard," he murmured, before looking up as the guard lept onto the stage.

Anja looked up as well, before stepping back and away, letting the two stallions converse quietly. Shadow hummer, before gesturing to the few drops of Pinkie's blood. "Send every guard you have to track her down. I got her with an arrow, so she won'rt be moving very far unless she has someone else's help. The prince is dead, so unless you know a good healer, I would recommend finding the Duchess."

Accentria didn’t let the door stop her, barging into the room with Sacred in tow. “Hi! Didn’t know what?” She asked the kimono-clad earth pony. “I’m a champion at not knowing things, y’know, maybe I can help.” She continued with a smile.

Sacred continued following the earth pony and unicorn, wondering why Accentria wanted to follow the magenta-violent pony. As they started heading towards the storehouses, she slowed in her flight a bit. When the earth pony went into one, she stopped in the air and hovered. Though that stop didn't last long as her friend just out right barged in. Panicked, she went in after the unicorn, looking at the scene in front of her.

Her ears perking up at the words the earth pony were saying, trying to piece together what she meant. Then it hit her as she looked at the mechanical devices around the place. She had to have made the thing Pinkamina used to kill Blue Blood. She clicked her tongue against her teeth, walking over to Accentria and hitting her lightly on the head. She then walked closer to the earth pony, putting on a hesitant friendly look. She meekly raised a hoof and waved it at her in a hello.

Dusk's climb proved difficult as he drove his sword into the rightmost peripheral support beam, the effort to lodge his weapon into the tough material being far greater than expected. Nonetheless, his ascension was steady as he climbed, bit by bit, to the top of the stage, his magic faltering briefly as he made it past the barrier. The smoke on the stage gradually dissipated, fading to nothing by the time Dusk reached the top. It left behind nothing but empty space where Pinkie used to be. At the same time, several platoons of pegasi landed with a series of heavy thuds on the stage. The one in front of them, who appeared to be the leader, strode up to Shadow.

"We'll be taking it from here, merc," he said. "Orders from the top. City's on lockdown. She's not getting out of here." Then he turned to Dusk. "Thank you for your... ah, determination, citizen, but this is a national affair now. Be on the lookout for the Duchess, but do not put yourself in danger." He gestured to his squad, and two pegasi stepped forward. "If need be my soldiers will help to carry you back down to the ground."

The other pegasi quickly split into two groups, one taking to the sky and the other searching the stage and the two rooms.

The House

The mare's head snapped up, her yellow eyes widening in surprise. She whispered something sharp under her breath, too low for Accentria, Sacred and Sonata to hear. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she reopened them her pupils were a cold ice-blue.

"Greetings," she said, the remnants of the crying still plaguing her voice but with no hint of sadness. "How may I help you?"

Sonata

That was the last phrase Sonata heard before a dark, powerful voice cut into her thoughts like a knife, booming into the deepest recesses of her brain.

MY CHILD. LISTEN TO ME. FIND A QUIET PLACE. ALONE. WE MUST TALK.

Then it disappeared, as suddenly as it came. But a pressure continued to loom at the back of her head.

Still outside the house, Sonata instantly clutched at her head with a grimace at the presence and the voice, but managed to recover just as fast as the voice disappeared. With a bit of concern, Sonata looked about to take stock of how many eyes may have been on her just then and how many eyes were likely to be on her in the near future. Figuring that the place would likely be put on high alert soon if it wasn't already, Sonata decided on a route of discretion. She at first flew at a common place and away from the house in the direction of her apartment while keeping low to the ground, and only when she was a few blocks away from the building did she rise in altitude to where she was above the roofs and angle more directly towards her apartment building. While Sonata knew a bit of the town, but she still didn't actually live there. If she wasn't stopped by any guard or anyone in general, she'd simply slip into her apartment, place the violin on its stand, and then wandered into the bathroom.

She paused there for a moment, counted to 20 and then went back to the door to make sure that nobody had decided to follow after her. Supposing that this check proved she was alone as well, Sonata would then go back to the bathroom where she'd quietly say, "alright, I think this is about as quiet as things are going to get. Now what's going on?"

Dusk was disappointed that his efforts to get onto the stage were wasted, but that's not why he was now angry. He was being treated like a simple civilian. Of course, he technically was since he was only hired help, but that didn't ease his mood. Still, he wasn't going to argue with the guard.

"No, I can get down fine," he said to the guard. He took the drop from the viewing platform, so he could take the drop from the stage. He figured they wouldn't mind him lingering for a little bit, so he began to inspect his sword for damage. The blade had been dulled a good bit thanks to the punishment of sticking it into the support beam, but that could be repaired with a whetstone. Not content with what his eyes could see, he used a little spell to check the integrity of the whole sword. The blade itself didn't need immediate repair, the hilt, however, had a crack that he didn't catch in his initial inspection. It would be fine to use in a single fight, but prolonged use would break it. As the hilt and the blade were one piece, he'd need to reforge the sword or find a temporary replacement.

He thought he might as well see what the other two "civilians" would do. They both seemed competent. Besides, if they were going to go after Duchess Pie, he wanted to join them.

“Ow.” Accentria said in response to being hit on the head. She took a moment to look around at the room proper for the first time after barging in. “Uhh… Actually, I’m not sure. What’s up with the waterworks?” she asked the earth pony. “Were you friends with the Archduke?”

Sacred looked at the earth pony for a moment, raising an eyebrow at her for a moment. She could have swore that her eyes were different from the blue they are now. She pursed her lips together a bit before turning to look at Accentria with a odd look. It almost seemed like she was silently asking her if she could be even more less subtle. She let Accentria talk, mainly because it was just easier that way for her. She had a bit of difficulty interacting with others considering her forced silence.

"Obviously she's not getting out of here, not on her own," he retorted to the guard, before shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. "By Celestia's ass, this is a mess. If we don't get paid..." he grumbled, gesturing for Anja to follow him as he dropped off of the stage and onto the platform below. "One dead noble, and a crazed pyscho on the loose..." he paused, before walking over to Dusk and offering a hoof in greeting.

Anja watched the pair, with Shadow quietly and discretely explaining that he had seen the stallion's determination, before she yawned daintily and begun to look around. Her elven eyes scanned the area as she tried to work out where the duchess could have gone. Magic was of course, an impossibility, so that meanyt she had used another method to escape.

Dusk shook Shadow's hoof, and felt a bit of pride well inside when he mentioned how determined Dusk had seemed. "Well, it helps that I'm not one to stand idly while my employer is slaughtered before my eyes. Seems we are of the same mind. So, what now?" Dusk asked, also trying to keep the conversation discrete like Shadow was.

He knew he was assuming much when he thought they'd go after Duchess Pie, but it was better than the risk of being passed by, again.